struct i2c_board_info *info)
 {
        struct i2c_adapter *adapter = new_client->adapter;
-       u16 id;
-       u8 ctrl;
+       int id, ctrl, conf;
 
        if (!i2c_check_functionality(adapter, I2C_FUNC_SMBUS_BYTE_DATA |
                                        I2C_FUNC_SMBUS_WORD_DATA))
                return -ENODEV;
 
+       /*
+        * Do as much detection as possible with byte reads first, as word
+        * reads can confuse other devices.
+        */
+       ctrl = i2c_smbus_read_byte_data(new_client, LM73_REG_CTRL);
+       if (ctrl < 0 || (ctrl & 0x10))
+               return -ENODEV;
+
+       conf = i2c_smbus_read_byte_data(new_client, LM73_REG_CONF);
+       if (conf < 0 || (conf & 0x0c))
+               return -ENODEV;
+
+       id = i2c_smbus_read_byte_data(new_client, LM73_REG_ID);
+       if (id < 0 || id != (LM73_ID & 0xff))
+               return -ENODEV;
+
        /* Check device ID */
        id = i2c_smbus_read_word_data(new_client, LM73_REG_ID);
-       ctrl = i2c_smbus_read_byte_data(new_client, LM73_REG_CTRL);
-       if ((id != LM73_ID) || (ctrl & 0x10))
+       if (id < 0 || id != LM73_ID)
                return -ENODEV;
 
        strlcpy(info->type, "lm73", I2C_NAME_SIZE);